Before the committee began the arduous process of whittling down the 363 applicants for the SABC board down to 36 candidates on Tuesday morning, chairperson Humphrey Maxegwana said the committee received a letter from deputy speaker Lechesa Tsenoli, informing them that they have to investigate state capture.

This follows a report that Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) submitted to Parliament in June, "connecting the dots" relating to President Jacob Zuma's alleged involvement in state capture, as well some ministers, including former minister of communications, Faith Muthambi.

Maxegwana also referred to the report from Parliament's legal services which suggested that persons might have lied to the ad hoc committee on the SABC board.

He said this report is "linked to state capture".

'Incompetent' Muthambi

Maxegwana said the committee should deal with this matter at their next meeting after a proper briefing from the Speaker's office.

"It [the investigation] flows from the ad hoc committee's report or process," said Maxegwana. "We'll have to go there fully aware what the process should be."

The ad hoc committee made a range of recommendations, many of which are already being implemented by the interim SABC board.

Among the recommendations were that Zuma reconsiders Muthambi's deployment as communications minister, after the committee found her to be "incompetent".

Zuma instead appointed her as minister of public service and administration in his late night Cabinet reshuffle in March. Muthambi challenges the report's findings with a court application.

The ad hoc committee also recommended that Parliament's legal services investigate people who might have misled the committee. This is the report that Maxegwana was referring to.

The report states that Muthambi's testimony "could be seen as an attempt to mislead the Inquiry".

Other people named in the report are former SABC chief financial officer James Aguma, former board chairpersons Ben Ngubane and Obert Maguvhe, and former company secretary Theresa Geldenhuys.

News24